The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1887-11-09

S'"nuu cNIueuce, ana inc GXDer1
once OF that eminent criminal Judge
iiofu llale' led him to specially warn
llrles against convictions on purely CIR.
cumstantial evidence. Tho same rule
applies with equal force i'm all cases. fo,
the lines Of distinction between misad.
venture, self-dcfencc, manslaurhter and
murder, SO shade into each other Ms to
render 1t very dillicult to locate the
grade OF crimo. In cases resting on cir
cumstantinl evidence, the corpus dcjicti
oelng proved, the question is, who did
nc killing and uuder what circum-
stances? In ordinary homicide, the
slayer being known, tho question is, was
thcrc Jnst cause for the act or sufficient
proVocntion to reduce the killing below
murder and how fur. Here lies the diff
cuity The jury, being unable to read
inc heart or interpret tho motives of the
slayer, find 1t hard to fix hcgradc of the
CRIME and hence their verdict. We are
hob surprised that few persons are found
guilty OF murder for it is better to err on
tho SIDE Of mercy than strict Justice
hathcr are we surprised that any man
should have within him the elements of
murder and hence that any are guilty.
though many are. Murder is a killing
VIVID malicc and prc-SuppOscs heart dc
VOID OF social duty and fatally bent on
mlSchief, heart desperately wicked and
utterly regardless of human life. IL is
hard to conceive oil man so abandoned
as to commit it, but such men do live
and when they kill with malice they should
sutlcr the penalty, but they should have
| Ill the rights OF defence consistent with
the preservation of society. Now we say
those rights, as they exist, should not Go
abridged, and in SAY ing this we have no
sympathy with crime or criminals, but
Tor the reason that persons charged with
crime are not necessarily criminals, and
because, in our Judgment, the State
protesting protection to her citizens,
from DIR nature and practice in trials,
M great advantages over defendants
charged with GRIN {" Al citizens are
personally interested in the prevention
Anud suppression OF crime, but having
Ithls nnturnl feeling VIC should guard
against making the law an in trument of
vengeance against crime without regard
to the crimluai, rather striving to enforce
the law with justice tempered with those
mcrclfut provlsionS, the law in its terms
attempts TO throw arouud, not criminals,
but persons charged with crime
Let US now examine the assumed facts
on which the articles of Judge Hudson
anu others arc based, keeping in MAD
the maNlmS, bad tine crow, bad the egg,
Ike produces bike, n false promiss ncCcs-
sanly leads 10 q false conclusion. These
writer's assume rs II fact that grave
crimes, especially murders, are growing
ol moro frequent occurrence in our State.
Is TINS true? Aa 20 Un!r county, we dcuy
It's truth and for var.iication appea! to
tradition and the records of our courts.
AS to the State, all things considered, we
also dony its truth.
Upon such q charge by contemporary
tess than two years ego, No eXamiped our
sessions docket and found less than
twenty (wc .hiuk sixteen or sovontccnD
cases OF murder ento red, including cases
not arrested and tried, and covering the
| period since the war. Several OF these
cases were n0mCido by mi.ndvc!.'uro or
! purely technical mansnuBhter, and ali
! the others trlod were cases OF scli def, nee
or manslaughtCr from sudden heat and
| passiCn, except one based on circumstan-
tial evidence. "a ali these cases only one
verdict Of murder was found and lie
party Was executed.
[ Let rs look at these iacts in the light
OF the past twenty years and compare
them with facts OF twenty years before
/ the war. In 1866 the people had cncr.cd
! from a long war and fouud their houses
often plifcred and destroyed their sock
gone, their farms waste, their slaves
omancipat,d themselves cOnquclcd
people, poor, reckless and demoralized,
aud by frequent contact with blood and
death habitnally prone to under value
human life. For such q people is not she
| slim record of Eomici1es in the county
au honor and the highest encominm on
the law-abiding character OF our people?
But this is not ell. During the twenty
years over 1000 slaves in tie county
were raised to full citizenship, position
they were totally untitled to fill from
want Of education, training and integrity
| Of character. In this ncw-iedgeu liberty
they naturally became arrogant to tlelr
1 former masters, did not regard the law of
meum and tuum and in the changed rcla-
ton OF whites and blacks numerous al.
tercations and homicidcs woad naturally
| be expected. How slim the record and
how complimentary to the peacenblc
character Of the whites, when it shows
but three negroes killed by whites in 20
years in population of nearly 20, 900
people. But this is not ALL During the
20 years tho Negro, invested with auf-
frage, sought and obtained political
powei, abused it, oppressed the people
with taxation, wrecked the credit of the
State government by the issue and sale
! OF State bonds, and with his Radical al
lies inaugurated n system OF public pill
\ lago which maddened the white element
and added decentralization to demoraliza-
ton. In tho face OF these abnormal
times the country might expect heca
tomb of homicides each year, and yet the
spirit OF law. and order prevailed to q
@onderfui extent, giving us better 10.
cord than that for n likoperiod in normal
times. But this js not all. During the
90 years the Air Line Railroad has been
surveyed, graded and built and good
deal OF work has been done on tho Blue
Ridge Road, drawing together geoups OF
laborrrs of all classes aud cOlols and
tending TO affcays and homicides. New
towns have also sprung up and our pop
ulatlon has arSeIs incroassd. Take and
combine aWthesd tendencies TO bicker
ings and peace breaking and the crimes